Dylan groaned as he tied his shoes for what seemed like the hundredth time. He hadn’t put those fancy shoes on for a long time, and his feet were killing him. His tight pants threatening to rip apart every time he crouched didn’t help. Why had he agreed to this? A few feet ahead, Nathan, Carmen and Will turned around, annoyed.

“That’s why we should have taken the car”, said Carmen, tired. “Again?”, complained Nathan, his shorter body seemingly adjusting much better to the formal clothing. “Did your mom buy you these when you were five or what? Hurry up, we’re almost there!” 

“I got these for my graduation, and I hoped I’d never have to wear them again. They make me look like a rich prick”. Dylan stood up, easily a head taller than Nathan and Carmen, and almost two on Will, who kept shooting uncomfortable glances at his girlfriend’s high heels. 

“Believe me, no tailor has ever come up with anything that’d make you look rich.” Nathan retorted, chuckling at himself. “We’ll see about that by the end of the night. I might win the jackpot”. Dylan hurried his steps, advancing to the front of the group and trying to keep his dignity. The shining lights of a casino blinked in front of them. “Won’t matter. In this place you can win the jackpot and not get a single cent for it” said Carmen. “What do you mean?” Carmen looked at Nathan, amused. “Oh God, you didn’t tell him?”

“Tell me what?” Dylan turned around, suspicious. Nathan emitted his signature annoying chuckle again. “When I said I’d be picking up chicks if I won tonight, I meant that literally”. The color slowly drained from Dylan’s face as he realized what his friend was hinting at. “Wait, you don’t mean this is one of those…”

Before he had time to answer, the massive door of the establishment opened, the two muscular bouncers moving aside as they were dwarfed by the very drunk man who emerged from inside, having to crouch as he moved past the door, his equally drunk boyfriend hanging on for dear life from his shoulder as the two walked past the group laughing. Nathan walked towards the open door and turned around, hands on his hips.

“That’ll be me before the end of the night. Minus, you know, the gay thing” said Nathan, getting a collective groan in response. “What? They can do whatever they like, it’s just that I, personally… nevermind, let’s go”. Nathan hurried inside, while Will approached Dylan “I thought he’d have told you, I’m sorry. You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”.

“It’s alright, let’s go in.” After a quick ID check by the bouncers, Dylan led the other two inside, where they were greeted by a woman with formal clothing. “Good evening. Is this your first time here?” The three of them nodded, nervous. “Great. Will you please step in there once the light turns green? Your friend’s almost done” She pointed to a massive door, red light above it. A strange hum came from inside.

Suddenly the light turned green. After exchanging apprehensive looks, all three walked through the large door. On the other side awaited a spacious, featureless room. Black walls, black ceiling, dim lighting, only a series of small round orifices on the floor and an equally massive door on the other side. Will got startled as the door closed behind them. “What the fuck has he gotten us into?”. His girlfriend sneered. “Oh, come on. We both know he did this for you, shortie”. Will’s face became red. “What are you implying here exactly? I don’t care about…” 

Suddenly, a loud hum made the ground vibrate, and a dense fog started coming out from under the trio’s feet. Dylan turned pale. “We’re gonna die. We’re so dead.”. The calm voice from the woman outside came through a speaker. “No one’s gonna die here. This is linking you to our molecular modification system. Your clothes will also be affected, so you don’t shrink out of them. when you lose”.

Will looked at the others, offended. “When we lose? That’s not too encouraging.” Dylan stepped forward through the fog, looking down at his ill-fitting shoes. “Hey, is there a way to grow just the clothes, but only a little bit?” There was no answer, and the fog slowly dissipated. Then, a long, awkward silence as the three just stood there, waiting, Dylan quickly running out of patience. “This place sucks, let’s just go…” Right then, the door on the other side of the room opened wide, as the voice on the speakers cheerfully spoke. “Enjoy yourselves, best of luck!”.

As the group approached the door, they froze as they observed the scene. It was a massive casino, bustling with activity. Roulette wheels, poker tables, slot machines and all manner of games you might find on any other establishment. But it was the people partaking on those games that were far from ordinary. Some were unnaturally small, having to stand up on their chairs to reach the tables, or dodging the legs of larger folk as they scurried around the floor. Some were more or less normal sized, though the extreme mix of heights made it difficult to know who exactly had or hadn’t been affected. The tallest players, however, were the most impressive, carefully moving around so as not to crush anyone, easily dwarfing the tables they were playing on.

Emerging from the mess of differently scaled bodies, ducking to fit under a man’s oversized legs, came Nathan, enthusiastic as ever. “Come on, don’t just stand there like that, someone will step on you! Come, come!” The three friends came out of their momentary trance and followed Dylan through the crowd. Will jumped as a tiny woman screamed after almost getting crushed by him. “Sorry, I’m sorry!” He had of course seen some giant and tiny people in the wild, but never so many in the same place. As he recovered from the scare, he couldn’t help but smile at thinking how big and strong he would have looked to that woman.

Carmen wasn’t looking at the floor, where the tiniest players were diving out of the way of her heels. Her eyes were fixed on the biggest player, a giant who seemed to shake the entire place with his roaring laughter, and whose voice boomed over everyone. “Red again, let’s go! I’m busting through the ceiling tonight!” Suddenly, the confident giant’s eyes open wide. “Oh, shi-”. and quickly disappeared among the crowd he towered over, giving way to laughter and cheers from the crowd.

Dylan, meanwhile, walked among the tables, observing the wild differences between the players. A woman held her husband on her lap as she blew on his dice. “Come on baby, you’re winning this one, and if you don’t… that wouldn’t be so bad, would it?” The man nervously threw the oversized dice on the table and immediately shrunk down to a measly foot. “You said it always works!” “But honey, it did!” The woman said, chuckling, giving her husband a mischievous smile.

Dylan felt so flustered for some reason, and quickened his pace, looking over at one of the roulette tables. At first sight he thought he saw two balls spinning around, only to look closer. A tiny girl, who couldn't measure more than two inches, was holding on to the wheel as she drunkenly giggled. Dylan stared at her, hypnotized, as she went round and round, wondering how it would feel to…

“JACKPOT!!!” The loud, excited female voice seemed to freeze the entire room, as all the players stood still for a brief moment, before diving out of the way in a panic. Dylan saw the rapidly expanding bare foot speeding towards him, knocking slot machines out of the way. He braced for impact and got hit right as the foot stopped, sending him to the ground and momentarily taking the air off his lungs. The girl’s massive shoe, detached by the fast movement of her growth, loudly landed on a table beside him, sending a shower of playing cards everywhere. The chandeliers above swayed back and forth as the fortunate gambler groaned after her celebration was cut short by a now very low ceiling. Dylan was just catching his breath when he felt something wiggling under his arm. He lifted it to reveal a tiny player, who got up, visibly dazed. “Fuck me, what a night…” He walked away, more annoyed than anything. As Dylan looked up, he saw a massive face looming over him.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry” said the girl, still ruffling her hair after hitting the reinforced ceiling. She couldn’t even sit up now, and had crawled towards Dylan to check on him. “Are you hurt?” As he tried to get up, the girl suddenly pitched his arm between two of his fingers and pulled him to his feet. Dylan couldn’t even answer at first, shocked at the casual display of strength, at how easy it had been for her to yank his entire body off the ground, with just… “Uh… yes, I’m fine, thank you, I’ve… got to go”.

Dylan hurried over to the bar, not looking back at the girl, who was now talking to the staff. “No, I won’t go for another round, I know how this works, just lift the wall and let me out of here!”. Carmen was sitting in front of the bar, staring at the girl, fascinated. Her eyes went down for a moment and spotted Dylan, waddling towards her. “Oh no. Was it you who got hit?” “Yeah, that was me”. He sat next to her as an entire wall of the casino slowly opened like a hangar door to let the giantess out.

“I didn’t get out of the way in time. This place is insane. Can you imagine how it must feel like…?” “To grow? Yeah, that’s why everyone comes here. To get bigger, stronger…”. Dylan nodded. “Yeah, sure, sure. Is that why you came too?” She laughed. “I’m here for Will. We all are. I know Nathan can be… well, he can be fucking obnoxious at times, but he’s observant. That’s what makes him so obnoxious I guess. Anyways, he knows Will is insecure about his height. He’s always been worried about that, and he isn’t even that short, it’s just that…” 

“He’s dating you”. Carmen groaned and drank from her glass. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it. I don’t get why it’s such a fucking problem. Oh no, a chick’s taller than me, what is he, twelve?”. Dylan sighed “Yeah, it’s so stupid. I myself wouldn’t mind, but there aren’t that many women taller than me”. Carmen laughed “I can see about five right now. If you wanted a taller woman, you could have asked your barefoot friend out over there!”. Dylan got up, annoyed. “I didn’t say I wanted one, I said I wouldn’t mind. Fuck it, let’s go over to the poker tables and make things worse for your boyfriend. You’re great at that game, imagine his face if you came back twice as tall as him”.

“No no no, I ain’t taking part in this. He can knock himself out. If he loses we’ll have a laugh at his expense, and if he wins…” Carmen smiled at Dylan “...well, as a wise man once said… I wouldn’t mind”. Dylan walked away from the bar, annoyed. “What did she mean by that?” His eyes darted to one of the roulettes, and was shocked to see his feet were carrying him there, almost against his will. The table was pretty much empty except for the dealer, a four inch woman in a suggestive uniform who walked over to Dylan. “So, want to try your luck?” Dylan didn’t even look down at her, eyes fixed on the wheel, ruminating. “Alright, let’s do this. 10% on black”.

The woman turned around and walked towards a big red button. “Your wish is my command. I see you’ve already won a little tonight?” Dylan sighed. “Nah, I’m just tall like that. Could be taller though.” The dealer giggled and pressed the button. “Ooh, don’t jinx it!” Dylan’s heart beat faster and faster as the wheel and ball turned in opposite directions before suddenly meeting. Each bounce of the ball made him lean forward more and more, the wheel slowing down and revealing each slot as the ball bounced. Black, red, black, red, black…

Dylan yelped as he felt a strange energy running through his body. It seemed like someone was lifting his seat, and his knees hit the underside of the table. “Holy…”. Black. He had won. He was 10% bigger. “Aaaaalright, here we go!” The dealer approached him again. “You’re a lucky man! Care to spin it again? You could reach eight feet!” Dylan got up from the seat, a bit dazed, still getting used to his new height. He was tall before, but now he’d fit in an NBA team. “Uuuh, thank you for the offer, ma’am, but I’m… satisfied. I don’t wanna risk it all now”. She giggled and waved goodbye “That’s understandable cutie. Enjoy your new size!”.

Meanwhile, Carmen was looking at the bottom of her glass, still in the bar. “Bad night?” The small voice came from beside her, and she quickly recognised the former giant she saw earlier, now sitting on the counter, next to a shot glass he could fit inside of. “Believe me, it could be worse. I had it, I had the world in my hand, and then, just like that, in an instant…”. Suddenly, a hand snatched the tiny man from the table, an angry woman taking him away. “I told you, I told you to leave it there! It’s always got to be more, more, more…” 

The yelling died down as the couple disappeared among the crowd. Carmen chuckled as she looked over the establishment, before locking her eyes on Will, walking towards her, as short as always. “Hey babe. You’re looking… like you, I guess”. Will looked at her, noticing the first glimpse of disappointment in the two years they had been together. “Ugh. I’m sorry, I just got to the slot machines and… I couldn’t do it. I was too afraid to lose. I’m so sorry”. Carmen cursed herself for the way she reacted and hugged him. “It’s alright babe, it’s alright. You know I love you the way you are…”

Suddenly, she saw a one foot tall, pissed off player walking towards them, and erupted into laughter. “Babe, look at that. It could be worse. It could be waaay worse”. She kneeled down in front of the most embarrassed version of Nathan she had ever laid eyes on. “What’s up little one? Did you lose your mom in the crowd?” Life came back to Will’s eyes as he saw his friend, and began cackling uncontrollably.

“Oh, fuck off you two! It’s bad enough to look like a goddamn garden gnome. I ain’t putting a foot in this place again.” Carmen put her hand over his head, as if measuring him. “Oh, come on, give it another try, I want to see what happens…” Nathan tried to push her hand away, but didn’t have the strength for that. “No way. I know it ain’t cheap, but I’m paying to get my size back. These games are rigged anyway, it’s literally impossible to win”. Will pointed at someone emerging from the crowd. “I don’t think it’s impossible, shortie. Look at that absolute unit of a man!”

Everyone turned to Dylan at once. He seemed more uncomfortable in his own skin than ever. “Hey guys. So, I won…” Nathan ran away, fuming with anger “Fuck this. Fuck this fucking place. I’m paying them right now!” Carmen easily followed him, casually walking as fast as him “Size returns can only be paid 24 hours after the checkout, dumbass. You’re stuck like this for a whole day, come here!” She picked him up effortlessly and walked over to the other two with Nathan in her arms.. “Come on guys, let’s get out of here and celebrate this wonderful event!”

Nathan leaned back against the half emptied bottle behind him, making an effort not to look at his friends’ smug faces. He had tried to use a chair like the rest, but he could barely reach the table, let alone reach the food and drinks. Carmen was happy to place him on the table, and now he was surrounded by three very amused giants. The bar was only two blocks away from the casino, but his insistence on walking there had left him completely drained.

“Want another one?” Nathan winced as Will shoved the oversized chip in his face. He shaked his head. A couple of them had been more than enough for him, just the sight of more food was making him dizzy. “Oh, whatever. You know, you could just stay like that. Imagine how much you’d save on food each month!”. Nathan sighed and watched the massive chip quickly disappear inside Will’s mouth. He expected Carmen to tease him, but Will? Will had always looked up to him, adored him. And now he was having more fun than anyone else.

The only one who seemed just as miserable as him was Dylan, who kept looking down at his tiny chair, afraid it would break under his weight. Will punched his arm, not quite reaching his shoulder. “What about you, huh? Bet you must be enjoying this!” Carmen chuckled and shook her head. She knew Dylan wasn’t exactly enjoying the situation. Sure, he felt big and strong, but that had never been a problem. Everything just seemed more fragile than before, and his usual feeling of taking up too much space had gotten even worse. “Well, uh… of course! Everyone’s looking at me, you know how much I love that!”

Will smiled, not detecting even the smallest hint of irony. Carmen looked up at her now giant friend. “You know, Dylan, luck might be on your side! If I were you I’d come back tomorrow, try my luck again. What’s the worst that could happen?” Dylan smiled and nodded, getting what she was implying. “Yeah, I’ll go back, bet 10% again. Maybe at poker this time”. Will’s eyes widened. “Poker? But you’re terrible at that! Why would you risk everything you won?” Dylan, tired of the attention, stood up, narrowly missing the bar’s ceiling fan. “You know what? I’m really tired, and we’ve all got stuff to do tomorrow. You guys coming?”

Nathan stood up on the table, welcoming the chance to get away. “Sure! But I’ll have to ask for a cab. I ain’t walking that far”. He turned around to see Will’s face. He had a smug expression he’d never seen before, and he didn’t like it. “Oh, you don’t have to. Dylan and you live on the same street, remember? He can carry you!” Dylan and Nathan locked eyes, and to any observers it would have been impossible to determine who was more terrified. Carmen cackled and pushed Nathan towards his towering, flustered friend. “That’s a brilliant idea, love! Come on Nate, climb on.”

Dylan extended his arms, but Nathan scoffed. “I don’t need you to lift me, you big doofus. Watch this!” Nathan sprinted over the table and leapt forward, trying to get to Dylan’s shoulder in one fell swoop. Instead, he slipped on the fabric and found himself falling, only for his friend to catch him. Dylan looked down at Nathan, cradled in his arms, and finally broke, laughing at the whole situation. Carmen and Will gladly joined him. “W-what’s so funny? Just… just lift me up already, anything but this”. Nathan fell himself being raised by Dylan’s strong arms, and placed on his shoulder. He was trying so hard to be mad, but he was also holding his laughter. He ruffled Dylan’s hair. “So that’s how the world looks from up there, huh? Come on King Kong, take me home. Forward!”

The strange group marched on through the empty city. Will and Carmen struggled to keep up with the giant’s pace, and Nathan kept mocking them from his advantageous position. “Come on now, hurry up, work those legs! And you, don’t you dare slow down for them”. He tugged Dylan’s ear, laughing to himself as Carmen shook her fist “You better hope I don’t catch you, you little shit! Gosh, I hoped that would knock him down a peg, now he’s even more insufferable!” Will shrugged and pointed to a side street, yelling at the other two “Well, that’s us!”. Dylan turns around. “Right! Have a good night! Nate and I will probably be at the Casino tomorrow if you want to drop by!”

Not much later, the odd pair made it to Nathan’s apartment. Dylan carried him upstairs, much to his annoyance. “Alright, alright, we’re already there. You want to tuck me into bed or something? Lower me onto the couch, you big dumb… AAAAH!” Dylan, tired of Nathan’s bullshit and feeling an unusual surge of bravery, grabbed his shrunken friend and tossed him onto the soft couch. “There you go.” Nathan climbed down, furious. The old Dylan never would have dared to do that. “You prick! I’m gonna kick your ass…” Nathan stopped dead in his tracks, as he realized how far up his leg he’d have to climb in order to kick his friend’s massive ass. Dylan kneeled down, still towering over him. “Nate, you’re a great guy. I know you don’t think you are, but you are.” The giant pointed a massive finger at Nathan’s chest, making him take a couple of steps back. “But you’re also an ungrateful little shit”. Dylan poked his friend, easily dropping him on his butt. He leaned forward, casting a huge shadow over Nate, who was looking down at the floor, unusually quiet. Dylan gently lifted his chin with just one finger. “I just put up with your annoying tiny ass all evening, and brought you back home. What do you say to that?”.

“Th-thank you D-Dylan”. Dylan smiled and got up. “Great, you’re welcome! I’ll pick you up tomorrow at the same time, alright?” Dylan stayed seated on the floor, still in shock at seeing a new side to his friend. “Uh… y-yes, sure. Have a good night. And thank you again”. Dylan walked up to the door and started descending the stairs, the adrenaline slowly coming down. “I did that. I just did that. I just told him… oh God”. Dylan puked on the stairwell.

“Hey, you can put me down please? It’s not like we’re moving that fast” Dylan almost got scared as he heard the voice next to his ear. Nathan was so light at this size he had almost forgotten he was still sitting on his shoulder. He carefully picked up his friend and set him on the floor. “Thank you.” He was not used to Nate being this… polite. He was sure he would miss that once things got back to normal.. 

Dylan took the chance to walk around the 12 foot giant ahead of them in the queue and check whether the casino had opened already. It hadn’t. “Damn it, we’ve been here for 20 minutes”. Nathan looked up. “That’s because we got here half an hour before opening time. You really are impatient, huh? I know growing like that must have felt great, but don’t bet too much, that’s how they get ya! I’m not making that mistake again, I’m paying up and that’s it.”

“Oh, come on, where’s the fun in that?” Nathan turned to the origin of the voice, a one foot tall, slightly androgynous gambler who carefully squeezed between Dylan’s legs. “Oh, hey, a fellow shortie! I’m so glad to see eye to eye with someone!” The stranger smiled. “Yeah, I had a bad night. I’m Martin, by the way!” 

“Nate. So, you’re paying up too?” Martin scoffed. “No way, I’m not taking the easy way out. I’m winning tonight, I just feel it. I don’t get how people can give up so quickly”. Nathan bit his lip, telling himself over and over to ignore that comment, to be a responsible adult, and to just… “Give up? Me? You clearly don’t know who I am. You know what? Fuck it, I’m gonna do it properly, and you won’t even reach my knees by the end of the night, smartass!” Dylan rolled his eyes as Nate’s new rival grinned from ear to ear. “Alright loudmouth, I’ll enjoy seeing you try”.

As the doors finally opened, Dylan somehow found himself struggling to keep up with the pace of the two overexcited players at his feet, who kept bickering all the way to the slot machines. “Wait wait wait hold up guys. These slot machines are a death trap, I didn’t see anyone over two feet tall walking away from them yesterday”. Nathan looked up and shrugged. “There’s a first for everything. What about you? Back to the lucky roulette?”

“I’m gonna try my hand at poker”. Nathan’s little eyes became extremely wide. “Wait, why would you want to do that? You suck at poker! You’ve never won a game in your life!” Dylan avoided eye contact, nervously shifting on his feet, “You said it, first time for everything. And if you get any smaller, promise me to just pay up alright? See you later”.

Dylan walked among the tables, dodging bigger legs and avoiding a couple less lucky gamblers on the floor. He knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted to lose, to return to normal. He knew anyone would understand, but for some reason he felt strangely embarrassed about it. As he walked up to the poker table he felt relieved. Soon everything would be back to… wait.

“Carmen? What are you doing here?” He looked down at his friend, sitting in front of a small table with cards laid on it, an empty chair ahead of it. “Uh… hi Dylan. I just… I just wanted to try my luck. After all the fun last night, I felt like I was missing out. Come on, sit down! It’s a heads up game, one on one!” Dylan sat down rather awkwardly, but the small, reinforced chair held on. 

“Alright, let’s do one. Just one. I’ve never seen you lose”. Carmen smirked. “Then why play against me?”. Dylan shifted on his seat, nervously. As his knees hit the underside of the table, the tiny croupier fell on his butt. “Careful up there!” He got up, annoyed. “Right. You know how this shit works, right? Each gets two cards, three to five on the table, all that.” Carmen and Dylan nodded. “Well then, let’s get to it. God I hate this fucking job…” The tiny man walked over to the deck and pulled a massive card, slowly dragging it towards Carmen as she looked down in disbelief. This was going to take a while.

…

Bell. Seven. Cherry. “No, no, no! Fuck you, fuck you, fuck…”Nate’s angry punches to the slot machine got progressively weaker as his hand got smaller. He sat down on the stool and looked up at his opponent. Martin wasn’t doing much better, but at eight inches, he was quite taller than him, and was smirking as if he’d won the jackpot. “No luck tonight, huh? Don’t worry, I’ll help you reach the lever next time. But it’s my turn now! And I feel good about this one.” 

Nathan’s eyes opened wide as Martin pushed the ‘40%’ button, jumped up and grabbed on to the lever, pulling it down with his full weight. “That’s risky!” Martin didn’t listen as he stared at the symbols spinning by. With each of the three reels stopping, his grin gradually disappeared. Nate quickly got up and stood next to him. He wanted to enjoy this. Martin’s body shrunk, smaller and smaller, their eyes meeting for a moment before his rival went down to just under five inches. Nate ruffled his hair, laughing. 

“You were feeling good about this one, huh?” Martin shoved his hand away, all flustered. “Fuck this thing. Let’s just pay up and leave”. Nate shook his head. “Nah. What were you saying earlier? About taking the easy way out and giving up? We’ll do this the right way. Now, uh… Hey! Hey! Down here! Can anyone help me reach that lever?”

…

The tiny croupier was sitting on the remainder of the deck, exhausted. Five cards were facing up, and Dylan and Carmen were shooting glances at each other. “Come on you two, just show them already”. Dylan set his two cards down. The seven on his hand and the one on the table made up a measly pair. He readied himself as Carmen formed a smile of relief and slammed her two fours on the table, matching the fifth and last community card. “Well played Dylan”. He welcomed the energy that ran through his body as the crupier pressed a small button on the table. The bet had gone up to exactly 10%. He felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders as he shrunk. It was a strangely liberating feeling. He looked down at Carmen and…

Wait. He was still looking down at Carmen. He looked down at his own body, double and triple checking, but the world around him felt just right, as it had always been. He looked down at the croupier. “Uh… something went wrong. She didn’t grow”. The tiny man shrugged. “She must have placed a bet on someone else”. Dylan looked up at Carmen. She was typing something on her phone. “Carmen… what did you do?”

…

Will woke up to the sound of the phone. He groaned and turned around in his bed, wondering why someone would call him in the middle of the night. Then it all came back as if in a flash. “Oh fuck!” He jumped off the bed and grabbed the phone, pressing the green button. “Yes? You there already? Have you done it? I went to sleep, it was taking so long… tell me honey, did you place…” Before Carmen had had a chance to answer, Will finally noticed how unusually tight his pyjamas felt. “Oh… oh shit, it worked! Baby, it worked! It…”

Carmen sighed, moving the phone away from her ear as Will kept shouting on the other side. She had tried to appear confident in front of Will, but she had been really nervous, afraid she was gonna mess it up. But as soon as Dylan agreed to play against her, she knew she was going to give Will his wish. Shame it was only 10%...

“Is that… is that Will? Shit, you were playing for him!” Carmen turned the phone’s volume down, Will still blabbering on the other side. “I did. We came together, placed the bet, but he couldn’t bear to watch, so he went home”. Dylan laughed. “Well, everyone’s happy then. Good move!” Carmen smiled, but her mind was wondering as she looked straight into her friend’s eyes. Dylan was back to normal, sure, but he’d never really looked comfortable in his own skin. And the idea of Will towering over her was so strangely appealing. She wondered if she could push the whole thing just a little bit further…

Carmen hung up the phone, interrupting Will’s excited rambling. “Hey, Dylan… wanna have another go?”.

Will stood in front of the mirror, stepping on the end of a tape measure and staring increduously at the number before him. “5 foot 10! Holy shit…”. It wasn’t a lot, He tried to flex his arm, but found it difficult to move inside his now extremely tight pajamas. “I’ll need to buy new clothes”, he muttered to himself as he removed his shirt and checked himself out. He hadn’t gained any muscle through his increase in mass, but he still felt stronger.

Will smiled and just stood there, thinking about how much he had always wanted this. His mind was woken by an odd sensation running through his body, accompanied by a ripping sound and a slightly dizzying change in perspective. “What the fuck?”. Will immediately stretched the tape measure again. “No way, she won again!”. 6 feet 5 inches. He was tall before, but this was something else. The proportions were a bit strange considering the uniform growth, and his pants were ruined as his growing thighs had ripped them apart, but it felt so good for him to care too much.

He ran back inside his bedroom, excited, sat down on his bed and picked up the phone. It felt smaller in his hand, and unlocking it wasn’t easy with his bigger fingers. “I love you, I love you, I love you”. Just as he was about to call Carmen, the odd feeling returned. “Wow, wow! More?”. The bed creaked and the buttons on Will’s pajamas flew off as his bare chest was exposed. He must have been over 7 feet now. He nervously tapped the even smaller phone screen to call his girlfriend. She picked up immediately.

…

“So, how tall are you now?” Carmen couldn’t contain her excitement as she played with the cards in her hands. She didn’t even notice the tiny croupier, signalling her to give them back. Will’s voice came from the other end. “I’m… tall. Like, freakishly tall. I feel bad for the poor sucker who’s playing against you!”. Carmen chuckled and smiled deviously at Dylan, who was too busy awkwardly walking around the table, now at a shockingly average height of 5 foot 8. “But how tall?” Carmen insisted. “If you’ve had two 10% increases you should be around 7 foot 1”. After a long silence, Will answered. “You… did the numbers?”.

Carmen blushed. She had done the numbers a couple days ago. As soon as Nathan had proposed going to the casino, she had spent more than she wanted to admit making calculations, running through scenarios just like this one in her head. “Nathan, can you please check? I want to be sure”. Her boyfriend stammered on the other end. “Uh, sure, umm, I left the tape measure downstairs, wait a sec. My clothes are all fucked up now, I have to get rid of these rags…”

Dylan had walked over and was listening to the conversation, amused. “He’s gonna be insufferable for a while, isn’t he?” Carmen smirked. “Oh, I can’t wait to see him rubbing it in on Nathan. He’s gonna be so big!”. Dylan smiled at her obvious excitement. “That’s what HE wanted, right?”. Carmen leaned back and looked at Dylan “You’re not too sad yourself, shortie!”.

Dylan did a silly spin, admiring himself. “You know what? I feel great! Way lighter. Shame the shoes shrunk with me”. Carmen suddenly felt something tugging on her sleeve. The tiny dealer was pulling the fabric as hard as he could. “Come on, are you two done or not? We can do another round or you can leave the table for someone else!” Dylan let out a nervous laugh. “Another round? Oh no, thanks. Can you imagine that? I’d just keep losing and losing and…” As his thoughts drifted he turned to Carmen and saw her piercing eyes fixed on him. “Dylan, can you do me a favor? I want to play a prank on will”.

The tiny dealer threw his hands in the air. “Look, I’m willing to look another way, but at least pretend you aren’t fixing this!”

…

The tape measure felt smaller in his hand. More fragile. Will looked at the mirror again. “She was right. Over seven feet now!”. He flexed his arm, his sleeve easily ripping apart under the pressure. “Holy shit!”. He fumbled to get his phone, and opened the camera app, aiming at his own towering form in the mirror. 

Right as he was about to take the picture, a now familiar feeling returned, only now it was stronger than ever. Before he could react to the surge of power going through his body, he saw himself growing in the mirror, his clothes, now torn to shreds, falling around him. Will groaned. This wasn’t like the other growth spurts. This was more. This was way more…

“Ouch!” Dust fell around will as he hit his head against the ceiling.

…

Dylan jumped off the growing seat, landing on the ground with ease. He felt light. And was getting lighter every second. He looked up at Carmen, who was covering her mouth, her expression a mix between wonder and amusement. “This is gonna stop, right…?” Dylan tried not to focus on the sensations flooding his brain, on the thrill of watching the world grow bigger and bigger around him, on how… good shrinking felt. This was just a silly prank on Will, he’d be immediately grown back, no big deal…

Still, he was almost disappointed when it finally stopped. When Carmen kneeled down in front of his new form, barely over a foot now, he looked down in embarrassment. His clothes had shrunk with him thanks to the casino’s unique technology, but he felt strangely naked.

…

Will winced as the wooden door, now forcefully divorced from its frame, fell down, one last terrible noise to add to the cacophony of destruction that had just transpired. His legs stretched outside of the bathroom, which had always been small, but now felt tighter than ever. He was sitting down, in shock, and took a few seconds to notice he was still holding onto the shower curtain, which he had ripped off its hinges as he fell on his butt.

“Fuckin’ hell… what was that?”. He looked down at the tape measure on the floor. That wouldn’t be enough for him, as he exceeded 12 feet, most of them crammed into the small bathroom. He leaned forward and carefully crawled out of the tight space, unable to fully stand up. He felt trapped, but knew he couldn’t get out of the house, naked as he was. “Carmen, what have you done?”.

…

“Hey there little guy!” Carmen looked down at Dylan, worried. Perhaps she had gone too far, making him play along in her game. This surely was scary for him. “Do you want me to… pick you up or something? Are you okay, did that hurt?”. Only then did she notice his blush. She smiled and carefully nudged his shoulder, making him recede a couple steps. “It’s okay, I get it”.

“Get… what?” Now it was Carmen’s turn to avoid eye contact. “Nothing, just… this must feel overwhelming”. Truth be told, Carmen felt jealous of Dylan at the moment. To look up at someone like that, to be around someone as massive as she must have been to him… 

“Hey!” Dylan looked down towards the origin of the voice. The same 4 inch girl who he’d seen working the roulette yesterday was walking towards him, carefully dodging the massive feet around her like a seasoned professional. But what made his jaw drop was the even tinier figure she was carrying in her arms, like a pissed off, suited baby. She raised him towards Dylan and Carmen’s shocked faces. The one-inch tall Nathan kicked his feet in protest as the casino worker smiled. “I believe he came in with you. We had to pick him up before someone stepped on him. He’s all yours!”.

Dylan groaned, using all of his strength to push himself upwards. He had opened each drawer under the sink strategically for him to use them as a ladder. He cursed himself as he finally made it to the top. Carmen had offered herself to help, but he had refused. Sure he was short, but going to the bathroom wasn’t that much of a task, right?

He climbed over the edge of the sink and let himself slide down, tired. It felt like an empty bathtub. He slowly stood up and saw himself in the mirror. It was remarkable. He had shrunk so much! 1 foot 5 inches, that’s how tall he stood. That wasn’t in his plans as the night started, but he knew he had imagined what it would feel like as soon as size shifting technology was first introduced.

He rapidly emerged from his trance as he felt something wriggling in his pocket. A muffled voice came from inside. “What are you doing now? Did you fall inside the bowl? Tell me you didn’t fall inside the bowl!”. Dylan sighed. Obviously, being the closest in size to Nathan, it was obvious he had to take care of him. Didn’t make it any less annoying.

“I’m washing my hands, dumbass. Wait a second!”. He approached the massive faucet and tried turning it on, quickly realising how much of a problem his diminished strength posed. He put all his weight into the task, groaning until the handle finally turned, unleashing a torrent of water. Dylan slipped as more water poured in. “Shit! Shit shit shit shit…”.

He quickly reached for Nathan in his pocket. “You big dumbass! I could have drowned in there!” Dylan left him on the edge of the sink. “Stay still, I will fix this!” He ran back under the faucet and tried turning it off, but the handle wouldn’t budge, the constant stream of water showering him as Nathan laughed his ass off. “Shut up you little… Carmen! Carmen, I need your help! Carmen!”

…

Carmen tried to hold her laughter in as she wrapped the napkin around Dylan’s soaking wet body. “We should have brought in some more clothes to shrink down, but oh well. It’s funnier this way”. Dylan scoffed. “Hilarious. And what about him?”. Nathan was walking around with a pissed off expression on his face, his suit and hair pretty wet from the incident. “Oh, I don’t think I have something small enough for him. We could look for Barbie clothes, but even those aren’t that… tiny.”

Nathan turned around, face red. One inch. One measly inch. Even if they grew him back tomorrow, he’d never live this down. “Can’t you… blast me with your hair dryer or something?”. Carmen laughed. “Oh, pipsqueak, the gust of wind would launch you across the room! Here, let’s try something else”. Nathan yelped as Carmen’s finger wrapped around him and forced him to turn around. He saw her massive, now terrifying face in front of him, getting closer and closer. 

He winced as her lips stopped right in front of him before parting, showing a massive cavern. behind her teeth. She gently exhaled, the warm air running over his tiny trembling body, blowing his hair and tie back. He held on to her finger as Carmen inhaled, Nathan’s tie lifting towards her mouth, the wind momentarily threatening to suck him in, before another gust of warm breath hit him again. This time she exhaled for longer, and Nathan slowly sat down, trapped between Carmen’s finger and mouth until she ran out of air.

She finally leaned back and slowly moved her finger away. “Well, here you go! It’s the best I can do. Want me to go again?”. Nathan stammered. “I… uh… no, no need to… do it again, I’m… dry. All dry now.” Carmen smirked mischievously. “You’re welcome! Oh my, that was warmer than I thought, your face is so red!” She turned around and walked away, stepping on the door Will had broken earlier. “I’m sure you boys can make your way down easy. Holler if you need anything!”.

Nathan turned to Dylan. He had such a dumb expression on his face as he held his makeshift toga. “What are YOU all red for? Damn, I thought she was going to eat me!”. Dylan smirked. “That would… have been quite a sight. Uhh… this has no pockets, so you’re gonna have to climb on my shoulder”. Nathan threw his arms up in defeat. “Do whatever you want. I don’t care anymore, this is humiliating!”.

Dylan shrugged and grabbed his diminutive friend, placing him on his bare shoulder. Nathan grabbed on to a strand of hair by his ear. “Alright, just be careful climbing down please”. Dylan was surprised. “Did you just say please? Alright, I could get used to this, little one!”.

Little one. Nathan let it sink in. That’s how low he had fallen. Any and all status he might have had within his friend group, the tough guy image he had carefully built up all these years. All gone. And even Dylan seemed to be enjoying seeing him in that position. Maybe he deserved it…

“Hey, Nathan. Wanna pay Will a visit? Seeing how he broke half the house… must be quite a sight!” Nathan smiled, suddenly remembering Will’s own predicament. He thought maybe that would take some attention off of himself. What a strange sudden desire. Nathan grabbed on to his friend’s hair, getting a little yelp in response, and resigned himself to his temporary fate.

Dylan carefully climbed down from the sink and exited the bathroom. He looked down at the broken door, and entered the massive hallway. There were signs of Will’s growth all around. Broken furniture, dents on the walls, a fallen bookshelf… 

He felt like he was walking through an oversized palace from a forgotten civilization, wrecked by some unstoppable force. It was downright scary, and he couldn’t imagine how Nathan must have been feeling like on his shoulder. He did feel his friend’s grip on his wet hair get a little stronger. As much fun as he was having at Nathan’s expense, he suddenly felt really bad for his predicament. 

“Hey, Nathan, I know this whole situation is… quite crazy. But I’ll be careful, you know? Until we grow back, just stick by me and I’ll… well, I’ll take care of you”. As the words exited his mouth he expected some clever comeback, some sarcastic deflection, but got nothing in return.

Carmen exited the living room and walked on to the hallway. She was visibly flustered, but tried to hide it when she saw her two small friends approaching her. She had to remain calm, after all she was the only “normal” sized person left in the group, but every time she had to look down (or up) at one of them she felt like she was tripping. Seeing Dylan in front of her, not even standing up to her knee, with an even tinier Nathan on his shoulder, was so surreal and hilarious. Seeing Will in his current state, sitting down on the living room, all 12 feet of him… that was something else entirely.

“Guys, I don’t know if you should walk in right now. Will is very naked at the moment…” Carmen turned around as she spoke, trying not to visualize what she just peeked the first time she walked in, half an hour ago. “Oh, who cares Carmen? Let them in, I’ll cover myself.” Will’s voice boomed. Dylan took a step back and jerked his head sideways from Nathan yanking his hair. “You heard him boys, come in. It’s quite a sight!”.